Brussels, 09/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - In Abu Dhabi on Monday, the Government of the United Arab Emirates announced that it was to open separate negotiations with the United States with a view to the conclusion of a free-trade agreement. This prospect may upset relations between the six members of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), which have established a customs union between themselves and unified external tariffs, and will not be without repercussions on negotiations with the EU.
Neighbouring Bahreïn has already concluded this kind of agreement with Washington and Kuwait has begun negotiations, a source of extreme irritation to its powerful neighbour, Saudi Arabia, whose crown prince made no secret of his disapproval, by boycotting the recent GCC Summit in Bahreïn last December. Riyadh is challenging this agreement to conduct separate negotiations, as the United States requested. Observers read this American request as a way of distinguishing between “good” allies and others. Saudi, which has reservations about American plans for “reforms in the Arab world”, might not be in the right category. Bahreïn, on the other hand, is proudly a “model country”, which is carrying out work on “pioneer reforms, democratisation and political openness”, according to statements made on 2 February by its deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammend bin Mubarak Al Khalifa.
Solidarity within the GCC is thus being put to the test, and a few challenges may emerge in trade relations between Saudi and some of its neighbours. Riyadh is said to have brought in new barriers (tariff and/or administrative) to products imported from one of the neighbouring Emirates (possible Dubai) and re-exported to the Saudi market.
The fragilisation of this solidarity between the six monarchies is not irreversible. According to Gulf State commentators, Saudi Arabia is trying to close ranks by invoking the need to be united against the terrorism hitting the kingdom and, increasingly, its neighbouring Emirates, such as Kuwait recently. At the beginning of this week, it held a conference on religious extremism.
Meetings with the EU postponed
Negotiations on a free-trade agreement with the EU alone are already suffering from these problems at the GCC. Technical discussions have made considerable progress and it was even planned to conclude everything at the end of 2004. Special meetings were planned to hurry the pace, but all meetings with the European Commission are now postponed and no new dates have been set. However, there is one important meeting scheduled for April, that of the joint EU-GCC Council. But it is likely that those involved are awaiting confirmation.
For the time being, in Brussels, careful attention is being paid to developments in intra-GCC relations, but the EU does not at this stage seem to be planning to open separate negotiations with the various countries of the GCC, although some of them (Oman especially) had suggested this when negotiations opened in the early 1990s.
The GCC encourages them to negotiate as a bloc- which the six countries did in December 2001 when they opened collective negotiations with China with a view to a free-trade agreement.